FCA India Automobiles

Last updated

FCA India Automobiles
Private Limited
Type Subsidiary
Industry Automotive
Founded2 January 1997;26 years ago (1997-01-02)
Headquarters Pune, Maharashtra, India
Key people
Partha Datta, president & managing director
Products
Parent Stellantis
Website fiat-india.com

FCA India Automobiles Private Limited (FCAIPL), formerly known as "Fiat Group Automobiles India Private Limited", was formed in 1997. The company was established for the production of cars and engines under the brand Fiat, Abarth, and Jeep. It is the ninth largest Indian car manufacturer by sales in India.

Contents

History

Fiat brand in India was earlier represented through a joint venture company called Fiat India Automobiles Pvt Ltd., FIAPL (Name changed to Fiat India Automobiles Ltd., FIAL later) founded in the year 1997 with Fiat S.p.A. and Tata Motors as the two partners coming together to produce cars for both brands in a plant set up through joint investments at Ranjangaon, in Pune district of Maharashtra. [1] The board of directors for this company comprises five nominees each from Fiat and Tata. [2] Another key interest area for the Tata-Fiat JV is the production of the 1.3 Multijet engine and corresponding powertrains common to a number of both the Tata & Fiat brand cars in India like Fiat Palio, Fiat Grande Punto, Fiat Linea, Fiat Aventura, Fiat Urban Cross, Tata Vista and Tata Manza. [3] [4]

Even today the Tata Fiat JV plant operates under the FIAL name, as an independent entity and it produces Fiat & Tata brand cars for FCAIPL (Fiat India NSC) & Tata Motors respectively. The company presently employs about 2600 employees. It also undertakes contract manufacturing of engines for Maruti Suzuki India Ltd & Premier Automobiles. Premier Automobiles uses this engine for their compact SUV Premier Rio and the Suzuki cars that used Fiat 1.3 Multijet engines in Indian market include – Ritz, Swift, Swift DZire, SX4 & Ciaz, S-Cross, Vitara Brezza, Baleno.

Prior to this, Fiat used to sell the 1100, 124 and Uno in India, manufactured under licence by Premier Automobiles Limited.

In 2015 FCA officially launches the Maserati brand in India absent since 2013. The relaunch is managed directly by the FCA India division through the opening of three dealerships in the Indian territory and the launch of the Maserati Ghibli and Quattroporte sedans imported directly in from Grugliasco (Turin). The initial plan envisages sales of 100 units per year with the progressive expansion of the sales network. [5] From 2016 the import of the Maserati Levante SUV and the Maserati GranTurismo coupè starts.

In February 2016, the entry of the Jeep brand on the indian market is announced. Mike Manley, then director of the Jeep brand and the APAC region of the FCA Group, announces that the first models to be imported from the United States are the Jeep Wrangler (JK), the Grand Cherokee and the sports version Grand Cherokee SRT, opening the first show rooms in the main Indian cities and addressing models to a target of luxury customers. In addition, the expansion of the Jeep brand involves the investment of 280 million US dollars for the production of the new model Jeep Compass with right-hand drive in the Pune plant from mid-2017. The Indian plant will produce all the Compass with right hand drive to be exported globally to Australia, New Zealand, UK, Japan, Brunei and South Africa. [6]

The 1 June 2017 the first locally-produced Jeep Compass officially rolled off the assembly line at the company's Ranjangaon plant. [7]

In 2017, Fiat signed a contract for the production and supply to Tata Motors starting from the end of 2018 of the 2.0 liter Multijet II turbo diesel engines. [8] The 2.0-liter Multijet II engine in the same year went into production at the Indian Ranjangaon plant to be adopted by the Jeep Compass also produced locally. The supply to Tata Motors concerns about 70,000 per year to be fitted to the Tata Harrier SUV that went into production at the end of 2018. [9]

In November 2018 the production of the Fiat Punto models (including the Abarth version), Avventura and Linea ended due to low sales; consequently the Fiat Chrysler Automobiles group withdraws the Fiat brand from the Indian market, focusing on the development of the Jeep brand that produces the right-hand-drive Jeep Compass exported globally and imports the Grand Cherokee and Wrangler models from the US. [10]

Manufacturing facilities

Fiat has a manufacturing plant at Ranjangaon, Maharashtra, which has an installed capacity to produce 355,000 cars and engines, besides aggregates and components. The company plans to double the production capacity for both car units and engines in the next few years. The car plant manufactures both Fiat and Tata cars, the latest additions in 2014 are the Fiat Linea facelift, Fiat Punto Evo, Tata Zest and Fiat Avventura. Engine manufacturing at Ranjangaon plant was the 1.2 litre Fire petrol, the 1.4 litre Fire naturally aspired and T-Jet turbocharged version and the small 1.3 litre Multijet diesel.

In April 2020 the Fiat India Ranjangaon plant has rolled out the 5,00,000th car. [11]

In 2017 FCA planned to start production of the right hand drive version of the new Jeep Compass launched on 31 July 2017 starting at 15 Lakhs. [12]

Models

Current models

Jeep

ModelIndian introductionCurrent model
IntroductionUpdate (facelift)
SUV/crossover
Jeep Compass (MP) Facelift IMG 5813.jpg Compass 201720172021
2023 Jeep Commander Overland T270 (Colombia) front view.jpg Meridian 20222022
2018 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Sport 4-door front 6.10.18.jpg Wrangler (JL) 20202020
2022 Jeep Grand Cherokee Summit Reserve 4x4 in Bright White, Front Left, 01-16-2022.jpg Grand Cherokee (WL) 20222022

Maserati

ModelIndian introductionCurrent modelNotes
IntroductionUpdate (facelift)
Sedan
Maserati Ghibli M157 Gold.jpg Ghibli 20152015Imported from Italy
Maserati Quattroporte (10906099934).jpg Quattroporte 20152015Imported from Italy
SUV/crossover
Maserati Levante S (01).jpg Levante 20162016Imported from Italy
Sports car
Maserati MC20 Milano 1.jpg MC20 20222022Imported from Italy

Discontinued models

Fiat

ModelReleasedDiscontinuedImageNotes
Uno 19972002 1992 Fiat Uno IE 1.0 Front.jpg
Siena 19992004 Fiat Siena EX 1.3 Fire 2003 (16939109622).jpg
Palio 20012010 Fiat Palio Stile Multijet Diesel.jpg
Palio Adventure 20022007
Palio Weekend 20022005 Fiat Palio Weekend HLX Speedgear front.jpg
Petra 20042008 Fiat Siena EX 1.2 Fire 2004 (18349763393).jpg
500 20082010 Fiat 500 (2007) 02.JPG Imported from Poland
Grande Punto 20082014 " 09 - ITALIAN CAR - FIAT PUNTO.jpeg
Linea 20092018 Fiat Linea3.jpg
Bravo 20102011 Fiat Bravo 1.4 TJet Emotion 2008 (9942084185).jpg Imported from Italy
Punto Evo 20142018 Fiat Punto Evo India.jpg
Avventura 20142018

Abarth

ModelReleasedDiscontinuedImageNotes
595 Competizione 20142017 Abarth 595 Competizione 2016.jpg Imported from Poland

Jeep

ModelReleasedDiscontinuedImageNotes
Wrangler (JK) 20162020 Jeep JK Wrangler Sahara 2-Door Convertible.jpg Imported from US
Grand Cherokee (WK2) 20162020 2013 Jeep Grand Cherokee (WK2 MY14) Laredo CRD 4WD wagon (2015-07-24) 01.jpg Imported from US

Maserati

ModelReleasedDiscontinuedImageNotes
GranTurismo (M145) 20162019 Maserati Granturismo - Flickr - Alexandre Prevot (9) (cropped).jpg Imported from Italy

Sales performance

FIAT sold 24000 vehicles in 2009 [13] and registered an increase of 241% compared to the previous year sales which stood at 6,897 vehicles. It planned to sell 130,000 cars annually in India by 2014. [14] [15]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maserati</span> Italian luxury car manufacturer

Maserati S.p.A. is an Italian luxury vehicle manufacturer. Established on 1 December 1914 in Bologna, Italy, the company's headquarters are now in Modena, and its emblem is a trident. The company has been owned by Stellantis since 2021. Maserati was initially associated with Ferrari. In May 2014, due to ambitious plans and product launches, Maserati sold a record of over 3,000 cars in one month. This caused them to increase production of the Quattroporte and Ghibli models. In addition to the Ghibli and Quattroporte, Maserati offers the Maserati GranTurismo and two SUV models, the Maserati Levante and the Maserati Grecale. Maserati has placed a yearly production output cap at 75,000 vehicles globally.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fiat Palio</span> Supermini car produced by Fiat

The Fiat Palio is a supermini car released by the Italian manufacturer Fiat in April 1996. It was produced until 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fiat Punto</span> Motor vehicle

The Fiat Punto is a supermini car (B-segment) produced by the Italian manufacturer Fiat from 1993 to 2018, spanning over three generations. The third generation of the car was marketed between 2005 and 2009 as the Grande Punto, and between 2009 and 2012 as the Punto Evo, until the single-word Punto name was reintroduced. As of May 2013, nearly nine million units had been sold globally.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tata Indica</span> Motor vehicle

The Tata Indica was a B-segment car launched by the Indian manufacturer Tata Motors in 1998. It was the first Indian hatchback with a diesel engine. It was the first passenger hatchback from Tata Motors, with previous models being station wagons and SUVs. Indica is also considered to have been one of India's indigenously developed passenger cars, though not the very first. As of August 2008, more than 9.1 lakh units had been produced and the platform had spawned close to 12 lakh vehicles. Annual sales of Indica were as high as 1,44,690 units in 2006–2007. As of July 2009, monthly sales of Indica were around 8,000 units. The models were also exported to European and African countries from late 2004. The car was discontinued in April 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tata Safari</span> Indian mid-size SUV

The Tata Safari is a mid-size SUV produced by the Indian automobile manufacturer Tata Motors since 1998. The first-generation Safari has been designed as a seven-seater SUV with a foldable third row, roomy interior; on the market it has positioned itself as an alternative from the competitive price to other brands off-road vehicles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jeep Compass</span> Compact crossover SUV

The Jeep Compass is a compact crossover SUV introduced for the 2007 model year, and is currently in its second generation. The first generation Compass and Patriot, its rebadged variant, were among Jeep's first crossover SUVs. The second-generation Compass debuted in September 2016 in Brazil and at the Los Angeles International Auto Show in November 2016, sharing a modified platform with the Renegade. It is positioned between the smaller Renegade and the larger Cherokee globally or the Commander in South America.

Multijet is Fiat Chrysler Automobiles' term for its current common rail direct injection turbodiesel engine range. Most of the Fiat, Alfa Romeo, Lancia range as well as certain Chrysler, RAM Trucks, Jeep and Maserati vehicles are equipped with Multijet engines. Ownership of some Fiat Multijet designs is shared with General Motors as part of a settlement of the failed merger between the two auto conglomerates. GM Powertrain Torino group in Turin, Italy manages their interest in these engines. Some PSA Peugeot Citroën diesel engines are also rebadged JTD units, and vice versa. Fiat's common rail diesel engine is also known as JTD, an initialism of Jet Turbo Diesel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jeep Patriot</span> Motor vehicle

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The automotive industry in India is the third-largest by production in the world as per 2023 statistics.As of 2023, India is the 3rd largest automobile market in the world in terms of sales. In 2022, India became the fourth largest country in the world by the valuation of its automotive industry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fiat Linea</span> Compact car manufactured by Fiat

The Fiat Linea was a compact sedan released on 26 March 2007 at the Tofaş plant in Bursa, Turkey, by the Italian automaker Fiat as a world car in developing countries. It is based on the current Fiat Grande Punto platform. The Linea was designed by Fiat Style Centre and co-developed by Tofaş and Fiat do Brasil. Production in Turkey ended in 2016.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Auto Expo</span> Biennial automotive show in India

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fiat Bravo (2007)</span> Motor vehicle

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">SCCS platform</span> Automobile platform

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fiat 500X</span> Fiat crossover SUV

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jeep Renegade</span> Motor vehicle

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tata Bolt</span> Motor vehicle

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fiat Tipo (2015)</span> Compact car and three-box sedan

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tata Nexon</span> Motor vehicle

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tata Harrier</span> Car model

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